Why Entrepreneurship Flourishes in The Countryside | Xiaowei R. Wang | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

So what you're seeing here are pearl ponds in rural Zhejiang.

各位現在看到的，

是浙江鄉村地區的育珠池。

And on the day that I visited,

我造訪的那天，

the owner of these ponds was surprised that anyone outside of her town,

這些育珠池的主人很驚訝 會有這個小鎮之外的人，

let alone the pearl farming business,

更不用說育珠業之外的人， 會想進一步了解這些池子。

would want to know more about these ponds.

70 percent of the world's pearls are cultured and produced here.

全世界的珍珠有 70% 在這裡養殖、生產。

And so each of these mussels, they contain 40 to 50 pearls.

這每一個珠蚌裡面 都有四十到五十個珍珠。

And the higher end ones are taken out, sold as jewelry,

較高檔的珍珠會被拿來當珠寶販賣，

and the lower end pearls are actually extracted,

較低檔的珍珠則會被取出來，

put into smaller oysters, vacuum sealed, preserved in formaldehyde

放入比較小的牡蠣裡面，

真空封裝起來，用甲醛保存，

and shipped off all the way to places like rural Indiana

一路運送到如印第安納州 鄉村地區這類地方，

for online pearl parties

供線上珍珠派對使用，

where thousands of people sit

會有數千人坐著，

watching these oysters being cracked open in real time.

即時觀看這些牡蠣被敲開。

Online pearl parties are truly an internet-enabled phenomena,

線上珍珠派對真的是因為 網際網路才出現的現象，

growing out of platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

是從臉書和 IG 這類平台發展出來的。

Because on the internet,

因為，在網路上，

no one can tell just how bad these oysters smell.

沒有人會知道這些牡蠣有多難聞。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

When we think of tech, we often think of cities.

說到科技，我們通常會想到城市，

Places like San Francisco or Shenzhen,

像是舊金山或深圳這些地方，

where tech is built and visibly part of everyday life.

科技已經建立在其中，

是日常生活中可見的一部分。

Rarely do we think of the countryside,

我們很少會想到鄉間，

and when we do, it's as a place that's lacking tech,

如果有想到，就是把它們 視為缺乏科技的反例，

that's lacking digital media literacy,

缺乏數位媒體素養，

and we see the rural as backward.

我們把鄉村視為落後。

Yet the pearl-producing towns of Zhejiang

但，

那些生產珍珠的浙江小鎮

and places in rural Indiana,

以及

流行線上珍珠派對的 印第安納州鄉村地區，

where online pearl parties flourish,

they don't just exist as an afterthought,

它們的存在並不是事後的想法，

waiting to become cities one day.

等著有一天能變成城市。

As online pearl parties show,

線上珍珠派對讓我們看到

rural China and rural America are connected in unexpected ways.

中國的鄉村和美國的鄉村 以未預期的方式連結起來。

And these connections need to be more than ones of economic growth.

這些連結必須要不只是 經濟成長的連結。

There's numerous stories like this.

有很多像這樣的故事。

Whether it's rural families manufacturing for online lifestyle brands in the US

有的是鄉村家庭 為美國的線上生活時尚品牌

生產製造，

or influencers in rural China

或者中國鄉村的網紅

cashing in by making livestream videos of themselves pulling noodles,

靠著製作串流影片 來賺錢，包括拍攝自己

拉麵條、吃辣椒、採茶，

eating chili peppers, picking tea and, my favorite, hunting bamboo rats.

還有我最愛的，獵竹鼠。

There's whole pockets of e-commerce,

有滿滿的電子商務，

whether on Amazon or Taobao,

不論是在亞馬遜上或淘寶上，

that are sourced from rural manufacturers in China,

製造源頭來自中國的鄉村，

made by families.

由家庭製造。

So this one family workshop that I visited was fairly typical,

我造訪的這間家庭工作坊算是很典型，

with a husband and wife making Halloween costumes for export,

一對夫妻製作萬聖節 服裝，出口到國外，

while the 90-year-old matriarch looked on,

而這位九十歲的女長輩則在旁觀，

sifting through plastic packaging for shipping.

仔細檢查運送用的塑膠包裝。

And across the US and China, I've seen similar dynamics:

在美國和中國各地 我都看見了類似的動態：

rural areas becoming home to data centers,

鄉村地區成為資料中心、

電子商務倉庫、稀土礦的家。

e-commerce warehouses, rare earth mines.

And ...

還有……

also top-down entrepreneurship initiatives,

由上而下的創業計畫，

like this free range chicken farmer that I met,

比如，我遇到這位自由放養的雞農，

who is using chicken biometrics tracking and blockchain

他運用雞的生物辨識追蹤和區塊鏈

to improve supply chain transparency.

來改善供應鏈的透明度。

At a larger scale, rural areas are connected

更宏觀來看，

鄉村地區是透過 全球市場力量來連結。

through global market forces.

Whether it's soybeans grown in Brazil,

不論是在巴西種植的黃豆

shipped all the way to industrial hog farms in southern China

一路運送到中國南部的工業養豬場，

or America's biggest pork player, Smithfield,

或者，

美國最大的豬肉商，史密斯菲爾德，

being acquired by a Chinese pork company.

被一家中國豬肉公司給收購，

And even the process of hog farming itself is becoming high tech.

就連養豬的流程本身 都變成高科技的了。

NetEase, one of the world's largest online gaming companies,

網易，世界上最大的 線上遊戲公司之一，

now has its own hog farms,

現在也有它自己的養豬場，

and Alibaba, the internet giant,

還有阿里巴巴，網際網路的巨人，

is now partnering with farms to use AI and computer vision

現在也和農場合作，

用人工智慧和電腦視覺

in order to create a highly optimized pig.

以創造出高度最佳化的豬隻。

Because the idea being,

因為，想法是，

AI and computer vision will help scale up pork production to an unprecedented level,

人工智慧和電腦視覺 能協助擴大豬肉生產的規模，

到前所未有的程度，

meeting the demands of a rising middle class.

滿足新興中產階段的需求。

So what happens when tech and the countryside intersect?

當科技和鄉間交集的時候， 會發生什麼事？

Well, in my travels, I’ve talked to owners of large farms

嗯，旅途中

我和一些大型農場的主人談過，

who see their work as one of inputs, outputs, land value and land ownership.

他們把自己的工作視為 輸入、輸出、土地價值，

和土地所有權的工作。

I've also talked to small farmers

我也和小農談過，

who frame their work as one of ecology and stewardship.

他們把他們的工作描述為 生態和管理的工作，

That their land is a place of relations.

認為他們的土地是「關係」之地。

It's exactly this ecological framing

正是這種生態結構方式

that reminds us that to see and understand the countryside

提醒了我們，

看見和了解鄉間十分重要，

is a crucial part of moving towards a more livable future for everyone.

能協助朝向更適合 所有人居住的未來邁進。

Because the tech that we imagine as urbanites to be solutions,

因為我們都市人

腦海中所想像的科技解決方案，如：

things like online coding classes for farmers

為農民開設的線上程式設計課，

or, you know, factory work in cities,

或者，你知道的，

城市中的工廠工作，

all of these are still framed as one-way relationships,

所有這些都仍然被塑造成

單向的關係，

with tech supposedly benefiting rural areas.

即科技應該可以讓鄉村地區受益。

But when we think of something

但，如果我們去想想比如

like AI farming pigs at an unprecedented scale

人工智慧養豬， 擴大到前所未見的規模，

or small farmers turning their land into pearl ponds,

或者小農將他們的土地轉成育珠池，

it's not because tech has found a solution.

都不是因為科技找到了解決方案。

These small farmers turn their land into pearl ponds

這些小農將他們的土地轉為育珠池，

because they can't compete at a global scale against industrial farms

是因為在全球規模上 他們無法和工業農場競爭，

who are using automation, chemicals and pesticides.

工業農場用自動化、化學製品，

和殺蟲劑。

So tracing these moments in rural tech

所以，探究鄉村科技的這些時刻，

reveals how so much of the technology we do build

讓我們看到

我們把很多建立的科技和消費、 娛樂集中於城市。

centers our consumption and our entertainment in cities.

Besides,

此外，

有些最精心設計的創新

some of the most thoughtful, careful innovation

is not happening in a place like Silicon Valley or San Francisco,

並不是發生在矽谷 或舊金山這樣的地方，

but in places outside of them.

而是在它們以外的地方。

Like Yangguang, a rice farming village four hours outside of Guangzhou.

比如稻米村「陽光村」，

距離廣州四小時的路程。

For years, the local agricultural bureau had worked with farmers

數年來，

當地的農業局和農民合作導入

to implement chemical fertilizers,

化學肥料、化學殺蟲劑，

chemical pesticides, industrial farm machinery.

工業用農場機械。

And so they did this, and they noticed a decline in their soil quality

他們這麼做之後，注意到 在這些現代規劃之下，

under these modern protocols.

他們的土壤品質越來越差。

So the villagers took things into their own hands.

於是村民決定自己接手。

So they do rice farming, and rice farming is mountain terraced.

他們種稻，用的是山上的梯田。

So it’s a form of natural irrigation, with water flowing from top to bottom.

那是一種天然灌溉的形式，

水會從上向下流。

The village changed their governance structure

該村改變了他們的管理結構，

so that stewardship of the rice paddies would change every few years

讓稻田管理者每幾年就換人，

via a lottery system,

用抽籤制度決定，

which also meant you wouldn't have contiguous paddies.

也就意味著你不會有連續的梯田。

So if you sprayed pesticides or dammed off water at the top,

所以，如果你到山頂 去灑殺蟲劑或築壩擋水，

you might be affecting yours or your neighbor's paddy lower down.

你可能會影響到你 或你鄰居在較低處的梯田。

They also started practicing organic farming

他們也開始實做有機農業，

and building their own farm machinery with the help of local blacksmiths.

並在當地鐵匠的協助下， 建造他們自己的農場機械。

They also started selling their rice online.

他們也開始在線上銷售他們的稻米。

And while tech helped this village steward their land,

雖然科技協助這個村子 管理他們的土地，

it was really people, not tech, at the helm of decision-making.

主導決策的其實是人，不是科技。

And so it's exactly this approach,

所以，正是這種方式，

without boundaries, without ambitions to scale,

沒有界線，沒有擴大規模的野心，

that reminds us of the humility and innovation,

會讓我們想起謙遜

its ability to change political and social structures.

以及它有能力改變政治和社會結構。

We have to see the tech that we build as affecting a set of relations,

我們必須要把我們建造的科技視為

會影響到一連串的關係、

ecologies and environments.

生態，以及環境。

Because innovation in this village is literally an ecosystem,

因為在這個村落中的創新，

可說是一種生態系統，

one that doesn’t scale across thousands of users

它不會擴大規模遍及數千名使用者，

but across the spectrum of time,

卻會隨時間延續下去，

regenerating the soil and community ties from one planting season to the next.

重建土壤和社區連結，

從一個種植季延續到下一個。

And for that, you don't need a legion of engineers,

要做到這一點， 你不需要工程師大軍，

millions of users or VC funding.

數百萬名使用者，或創投資金。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）